LOS ANGELES (CNS) - A Black Los Angeles police officer is suing the city, alleging he has been the victim of disparate treatment because of his race and subjected to a backlash for reporting discrimination against Black LAPD officer applicants.
Officer William Faulkner's Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit alleges discrimination, harassment and retaliation. He seeks unspecified damages in the suit brought Friday.
A representative for the City Attorney's Office could not be immediately reached.
Faulkner was hired in December 2008 and began working in 2016 in the recruitment division in the LAPD's Personal History Statement Unit, the suit states. In May 2018, Sgt. David Williams, who also is Black, was named unit supervisor, according to the suit.
For the next two months, Faulkner was frequently subjected to a hostile working environment, the suit states. When he submitted a Black applicant's package for approval to the next phase of the application process, Williams would reject the candidate and make comments about the applicant that included, ``He said no to drugs, I ... find that hard to believe,'' according to the suit.
Williams did not make similar comments about other candidates of other races, the suit states. Williams' rejection rate of Black applicants was more than 50% and far higher than all other ethnicities, the suit states.
A lieutenant agreed with Faulkner that many of the Black candidates should have been given passing grades and overturned Williams' decisions often, the suit states.
Faulkner filled out numerous transfer requests, but the plaintiff was still working under Williams when the two had a meeting in May 2019, the suit states. Faulkner complained that Williams treated Black applicants harsher than other applicants and that he had never heard the sergeant mention any stereotype with Latinos or members of other races, the suit states.
``Sgt. Williams simply responded that he treated everyone fairly and didn't know what (Faulkner) was talking about,'' the suit states.
A complaint was later issued against Faulkner for his alleged failure to telephonically interview candidates, an action he believes was retaliatory, the suit states. On Jan. 26, Faulkner was suspended for 12 days, more than twice the normal penalty, the suit states.
Faulkner has suffered lost earnings and other employment benefits as well as damage to his reputation, the suit states.
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